Abstract
A BRAVE and poetic effort is here made to present what Vidal de la Blache would call the personality of Ireland. The countrv is viewed as an outpost of Eurasia, from which her people and her civilisation have been derived in successive and overlapping, waves. Prof. Cole's name assures the picturesque interest of the structural sections, and the maps and views are most helpful. A laudable oeffort is also made to set forth the present state of the problem of the peopling of Ireland, and this chapter is a welcome change from the too common fanciful remarks about Celts. No two writers would make the same sketch on this subject, and several would dissent from Prof. Cole's identification of the archaæologically named Beaker folk with the “Bronze age” invaders of Ireland and with the monuments of New Grange. Nevertheless, Prof. Cole has made a suggestive summary that may well make a basis for discussion. The very short mention of Roman times and of the days of the saints is a little disappointing perhaps, as the story of those days emphasises the initiative of Ireland.
Ireland: The Outpost.
By Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole. Pp. 78. (London: Oxford University Press; Humphrey Milford, 1919.) Price 3s. 6d. net.
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F., H. Ireland: The Outpost . Nature 104, 411 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/104411a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/104411a0